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basic argument behind the book - that social networking isn't really new, and that in fact the "disruption" caused by Facebook, Twitter, and the rest isn't really a disruption at all, but rather more like a return to the norm - was quite interesting. Prior to reading the book, I didn't know that ancient Romans in far-flung provinces kept up with the happenings in the capital via social networks. I had never considered that Martin Luther and Thomas Paine sought redress of their grievances in much the same way as did the people in the Arab Spring, so again that part of the book was interesting. Unfortunately, I did feel that most chapters were just entirely too long. Each chapter is devoted to a specific time period, and the author generally made his case quite quickly, but then seemed to feel the need to pad the page count, so rather than making his case and moving on, he makes his case, and then provides another example to buttress it, and then another, and then another, and then another. I couldn't help but keep thinking "OK, I get it ... please move on!" in almost every chapter. Thankfully, the book redeems itself in the final chapters, which focus on the rise of mass media, how that was the true disruption, and how the internet is allowing us to really get back to the way things used to be. If you're interested in social media or how technology impacts society, the book is a fairly decent read. If only the middle chapters were each half as long. -- When I heard that Tom Standage, the author of A History of the World in 6 Glasses had a new book out, the Writing on the Wall, I jumped on it. As someone who checks Facebook throughout the day and loves history, I thought this would be a perfect, joyous read. I was right. From the first page of the book, dealing with one of my heroes, Cicero, you will be pulled back through time while feeling very connected to the present. Cicero used his own social network to gather information, keep track of friends and rivals, and even learn what was happening in other countries. I found it fascinating that a letter could reach Britain in five weeks and Syria in seven weeks (p. 2). In a time before actual letter service this is remarkable. But not just Rome gets a look under the microscope. From the beginning of time and how man's mind is wired for social media, to Luther, to the present (Including a very interesting chapter on how the mid century's huge media networks limited social media and contact) you travel from the beginning of social media to the present. I love this book. I really recommend this as a gift to yourself and others. It is a perfect vacation book with gripping, well written and easy to read chapters. No matter where I turned, I found interesting tidbits like coffeehouse gossip goes back much farther than Starbucks (to about 1650) and an easier printing experience helping spark our own revolution. This book is a revelation and joy. Tear yourself away from Facebook long enough to read The Writing on the Wall. You will be overjoyed that you did. -- There's no way I could have resisted Tom Standage's book, which promised to show how social media is anything but a new phenomenon. I've been online since long before online was cool, when BBSes were long-distance modem calls; I've been running online communities since CompuServe was a dominant force; I've been writing Amazon reviews since 1998 (this is #804); and I've been doing "social media" since before anyone gave it a name. Twitter? Google+? Facebook? Yeah, I have a bunch of "followers," which is why my name's on the cover of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Twitter Marketing. But I see all of these as part of the same universal human urge: It's all just a conversation. We all like to talk with each other about the things that interest us. When we can't connect in the "mass media" (whether for political reasons or the desire to find People Like Me), we find alternate ways to do so. Standage apparently sees "social media" the same way, and he traces its back to Cicero (who wrote letters on papyrus to exchange news across the Roman Empire, urging friends to copy the letters, annotate with their own comments, and share with others... an extremely slow Facebook). He does a splendid job of casting the historical influences of communication styles in current terms, such as a chapter on "How Luther went viral" and "And so to the coffeehouse: How social media promotes innovation." In a way, however, this is as much about the history of ALL communication media, not just social media. Before the French revolution, there was the state press (very controlled), the foreign press (smuggled in), and "the overlapping informal networks of gossip, songs, poems written on scraps of paper, materials printed on hidden presses, and handwritten news sheets called nouvelles a la main (which literally means 'news by hand')." So I ended up learning a huge amount of the history of journalism and mass media, because the "alternative" means nothing without understanding the context in which "mass media" consolidated control of information in the hands of a few moguls. There's plenty of lessons for anyone "doing" social media today, too. For example, the Catholic Church had to decide whether or how to respond to Martin Luther's attacks in the early 16th century (using that newfangled printing press), just as businesses today need to learn the PR consequences of responding to public criticism on the Internet. (Let's just say: They made the wrong choices.) Oh, jeez, that all makes this sound important and boring. Quite the opposite. Standage tells lots of stories that made me giggle, or say, "How 'bout that!" or occasionally "Wow." I hadn't realized that Thomas Paine's Common Sense sold 250,000 copies, making him the world's best-selling author, much less the manner in which it gained that popularity -- even though, as Standage writes, the pamphlet was regarded as dangerously extremist, and "early readers who were convinced by its arguments were sometimes unsure whether they ought to express their enthusiasm for it." I chuckled at the history of coffeehouse criticism: "That coffeehouses were distracting people and encouraging them to waste time sharing trivia with their friends when they ought to be doing useful work." It's a really entertaining book, whether you're interested in social media (professionally or otherwise) or any kind of media. Fun, and recommended -- I use social media daily. I use it blog about movies, make friends and look for a place to eat. I also read books and listen to music using social media. This subject really appeals to me. I did not grow up using social media, but it has definitely made my life easier. I don't have to spend so much time looking for things because of social media sites like amazon and yelp. I learned that the ancient Greeks started the practice of writing graffiti. They wrote on walls of friends to make announcements of love affairs and other news I don't write on walls physically, but I write on the walls of my friends on Facebook to announce what is going on in my life. I learned that Issac Newton formulated his theories of gravity in coffee shops in the seventeenth century. I have never done any academic or creative work in coffee shops, but it seems like a great place to discuss my writing with other people. I never thought letter writing could be a form of social media. Standage discusses how the letters of Saint Paul helped spread the word about different churches. I really appreciate when I receive a hand written letter, because I know that the person took time to write me. I never thought that writing poetry could be used to impress people and enhance a person's career. Standage finds a historical example of this. Sir John Harrington possessed a talent for writing poetry, that he impressed the Tudor court in the sixteenth century. His writing prowess promoted him to the rank of knight. I like to write poetry, so this example inspires me to continue doing it. Standage briefly discusses the impact social media has on what happens today. I learned of a Chinese social media platform called Weibo. Posts from this web site helped Chinese officials investigate a train crash in 2011 where forty people died. Writing on the Wall is a fascinating book, because the history of social media is something I have never thought of before.